From a Hobby to a Career

Petar Trifonov is an AUBG alumnus who graduated in December 2013. He completed AUBGwith a double major in business administration and journalism and mass communication,taking as many courses towards marketing as possible.

“…I thought that was interesting at the moment for some reason,” he admitted.

Petar graduated in December so he had to wait one semester to pick up his diploma. He went home after graduating because he wasn’t sure what he really wanted to do. Then a friend contacted him about a startup idea in Sofia, called the Videonauts. He started travelling to Sofia often for meetings and then eventually he decided to move there. The startup joined StartItSmart – an accelerator that helps young startups grow.

From Petar Trifonov’s personal archive

Petar was taking the marketing decisions in the Videonauts. Their first idea was to be an advertising agency. However, they discovered that they weren’t good enough to make the ads themselves, so they needed to work with other people. They realized there was some money acting as an intermediary between the business and the people who make the videos.

After that it was kind of a haze for Petar. All he remembers from that period is going to a Queens of the Stone Age concert to lift his spirit.

“I was thinking what could make things more interesting. Get some more hope in life. It boosted my spirit.”

After that he joined a band in Sofia that he had high hopes for, but it turned out that the other musicians were not very serious and they lost contact after a few rehearsals.

“I was just chilling the whole summer. I wasn’t really into the idea of working in an office. I just enjoyed the summer, went hiking and stuff like that. I was looking for people to play with.”

Then, out of necessity, Petar got a job at a small company owned by an Israeliwho dealt with forex trading and binary options. It was interesting for Petar at first, since he had a chance to make an impact.

“Little by little I learned that business and all those things I learned at AUBG aren’t really my thing. I really didn’t like working in an office. I just lost interest, and it just seemed so boring.”

Then Petar joined “Homeovox,” the side band of the guitarist from the band “Ostava.” He then met another person who introduced him to some more musicians and that is how he joined his current band “Bears and Hunters.” Petar was also introduced to a girl called Raja, a popular singer in Sofia, and he ended up joining her band, “Raja and the Band,” as well.

“And at one point I was in three or four bands at the same time and it was really crazy.”

From Petar Trifonov’s personal archive

Around December of 2014 Petar quit his job because he was accepted as an intern at SAATCHI & SAATCHI, an advertising agency. He decided to do it because he really wanted to make something out of his AUBG education and the only thing that he was interested in was writing. He was very satisfied with his internship there but was unable to transfer to the copyright department at the end of his internship. So now he is doing some freelancing with copyright and some other online things.

Petar shared that after four years of studying JMC and BUS he realized after graduating that this isn’t what he wants to do.

“Unfortunately though, you have to make a living somehow. I already put in the effort for this education so I will try and make the best of it if I can.”

His main band “Bears and Hunters” was formed in 2014 around November. The members were in another popular Sofia-based band before that.

“I was looking for people to play with all summer and all I could find was people who wanted to play “Metallica,” or “Slayer,” or even more brutal stuff like “Marduk.” So I was very lucky to find those guys, because they are very awesome people, awesome musicians and we have the same music tastes.”

The band also signed a contract with the label called Homeovoxmusic and recently released a video for their new single “Comeback Story.”. The song, according to Petar, was recorded the previous year, but due to some production changes it was finalized recently.

“…This guy who shot the video is very popular and we were lucky to work with him.”

Petar said that he would like to support himself off of music, but that he is not confident enough yet. He said that he will still try because that would be great.

“I am going to try it for sure, because I really don’t want to work in an office, no offense to the people who do.”

Petar also sharedthat his band “Bears and the Hunters” has many other songs, but haven’t been able to record them yet. The fans of the band can look forward to some live sessions, which will probably come out soon. As for upcoming concerts, he said that there is a chance near the end of May for them to play in Plovdiv.

When asked what advice he would give to the graduating seniors he said, “At this point it’s already too late for advice, so I’m sorry for you, no turning back now.”